Press reports suggest that the motive was an early-morning visit to a bar

A man has been detained by the Guardia Civil following a bizarre incident at the Parque de Seguridad in Cartagena, where he stole a vehicle belonging to the fire brigade apparently with the intention of visiting a bar in Totana.

The theft occurred at around 5.30 in the morning after he entered the secure parking area and found a car with the keys inside, and then waited for another official vehicle to leave the premises in order to take advantage of the barrier having been raised. It has since been explained that the car had been left prepared to attend to any emergency which might arise, with the lights on and the keys at the ready, but its disappearance was not noticed until the following morning, when security camera footage showed it being stolen.

The missing car was eventually located 60 kilometres away at a bar in either Alhama de Murcia or Totana, according to differing reports, where the thief, a resident of San Javier, was detained, although no official explanation has been offered of the motive underlying this unusual car theft.